Vehicle wheel-tire.



` E. B. BROWN.

VEHICLE WHEEL TIRE; APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 14, 1012. RENEWED DEO. 31, 1913.

1,105,958.' Patented Aug, 4, 1914.

E. B. BROWN.

l VEHICLE WHEEL TIRE. v APPLIOATIOIII FILED sBPT.14, 1912. RENHWED DBO. `a1. 1913.

1, 1 05,958. Patented Aug. 4, 1914.

FFXCE.

EGBERT B. BROWN, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

VEHICLE WHEEL-TIRF Specification of Letters Patent.

Iatented Aug'. 4t, 19.1 ell.

Continuation of application Serial No. 671,308, filed January 15, 1912. This application filed September 14, 1912, Serial No. 720,413. Renewed December 31, 1913. Serial No. 809,723.

To all `whom it may concern Be it known that l. Eomlnr B. BROWN, a citizen o't the United States, residing in the `city of Los Angeles. county olr Los A\nj reles, and State of California, have invented eertain new and uset'nl Improvements in Ve hicle Wheel-Tires, oi which the 'following is a specificationv (.)ne of the main objects of this invention is to provide a yicldable resilient tire which will have all the characteristics" of the ordinary pneumatic tile but which will be more durable than a pneumatic tire and which will. not depend upon an air cushion for its resiliency.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved tire casing which will be more durable than the tire casing of thc ordinary construction and in which a tread portion o'l' rubber or similar plastic material will be firmly interloclied and secured to a .fibrous fabric portion so that said tread portion cannot separate from the fabric portion of the easing.

Another object of the invention is to provide coil springs within the easing to expand it and to give it its resiliency; and further to providenieans whereby the outward strain of said springs will be distributed through out Vthe tread portion of the tire easing, thereby preventing all distortion of the tread of thecasing. l j There are other objects and advantages of the invention which will appear hereinafter.

In the drawings, Figure lis a side elevation of a portion of a wheel constructed in accord ance with my inventio'n,the tire casing and one of the spring holdingdevices being shown in the sectional view; Fig. 2 a transverse secn tional View ot the tire; Fig. 3 a perspective view of one of the thrust receiving sockets; Fig. 4 a plan view thereof; Fig. 5 a detail side elevation of a poition of the chain carrying the spring retaining caps; Fig. 6 a bottom view o't' the chain and caps shown in Fig'. 5; Fig. 7 a side elevation of a portion of the spring retainer band and the springreceiving caps attached thereto; F ig. 8 a

view of the inner side of the band shown in Fig. 7; and Fig. 9 a detail view of the wedge used for expanding the. retainer band.

The tire casing is formed of two or more layers of a fibrous fabricflaid overa suitable form, as shown at 1, 2*.and 3 in'Fig.,1, the

eleneher ribs 13 vbeing formed along lthe marginal edges oi' the'easing. Above these fibrous fabric portions 1-2-#3 of the casini; I place a layer -l of' rubber gum ot the neces? sary thickness, this ,gum layer tapering` toward lts edges and being,r thickest across the outer 'face of the casing. Above this layer of guml stretch anotherttibrous fabric member This member is carried' around the entire casing and around the elencher ribs. said layer terminating on the inner side of the fabric portion l o't' the, tire, as shown clearly in Fig. 2, at a point G above the elencher ribs 1B. Over this reinforcing: or tread anchoring; member 5 is laid a heavv layer ci rubber gum which forms thetread. '.l`his layer ot gum is prolonged and carried around the sides of the casing in a thinner layer: and said thinner layer extends to the cleneher ribs. '.lhe member or portion 5 ot' the casing becomes completely embedded in the rubber layers l and T extending across the tread of the tiro easing and securely anchorsthe tread portion to the fabric portion. liy carrying ,this `anchoring member around theielencher ribs 13 it will be securely clamped and rigidly held within the elencher rings when the casing is in place on a wheel. The i'nner side of the tire casing is covered completely by a thin layer 9 o f fibrous mate rial coatedv on one side with rubber.4 The material I prefer to use is known as bare back It is closely cemented, to the interior ot the tire casing.

It is obvious from this use of the reinforcing and tread anchoring member 5 that the tread portion4 ,of the casing is greatly strengthened, and is locked to the fabric portion of the tire casing. It is also obvious that by carrying the anchoring member around the clenche'r ribs the tread is locked by the clencher rings, thereby making it practically impossible to tear the tread from the casing.

To expand the tire casing and render the same resilient I em loy a series of radially arranged compression springs and provide means whereby they may be' held vin vplace within the tire casing by 'the ordinary clencher rings. The wheel rim 8 is secured to the outer surface of the ordinary tire felly i" any suitable manner;"and to this. rim are secured the clencher rings 10. These clencher rings may be of any suitable form. On the outer face of the rim is arranged a spring retainer band 11. This retainer band is normally slightly smaller in diameter ,than the rim so lthat it must be expanded to place it in position on the rim. To facilitate the expansion ofthis band the ends thereof are .inclined inwardly toward each other to form a 'wedge shape opening 12 between them, as clearly shown in Fig. 8. To expand theband a wedge is provided, said .wedge being adapted to be forced in wardly between the ends of the retainer band. By thus expanding the band it may be readily slipped over and removed'from the wheel rim. It is manifest that when the band is in position on the wheel rim it will contract and tightly grip said` rim as soon as the expanding wedge is removed. It is obvious that when it is desired to remove the band from the rim it is only necessary to againl force the wedge in between the inclined ends of the band. Rigidly secured to the retainer Aband 'are a series of U-shape spring-receiving pockets 14. These' pockets are spaced a suitable distance apart around the retainer band and the outwardly eX- tending members thereof are arranged adjacent each other so that they lie between .the springs carried by lthe pockets and prevent any movementof the springs toward each other. The distance between the out# wardly extending members`or walls of each pocket is equal to the diameter of the spring adapted to be contained within the pocket 'so that said spring can have little or no lation thereof without binding against adja' cent pockets. The pocket 14 which bridges the joint between the two ends of the retainer band is rigidly connected to one end of the band and slidably connected to 'the other end of the band by` means of a slot 16 in the, pocket and a rivet 16a in the band, said rivet passing throughsaid slot. This permits the two ends of the band to be moved. toward and from each other, as hereinbefore described. It will, of-y course, be understood -that the ends of the retainer band do not abut against each other when the band is contracted about the wheel rim, thereby Apermitting the band to clench firmly upon the surface of the rim and permitting` the reintro'duction .of the expanding wedge when it is desired to detach the band from the rim. The number of spring pockets or holders used will, of course, depend upon the diameter of the wheel and the diameter of the springs used, but it will, of course,

use for which 'it is designed.

On the wheel rim 8 and abutting against the edges of the retainer 'band 11 are a pair of ring plates 17, .one plate being arranged against each edge of the'retainer.

' be understood that any suitable size. springs may be emplqyed to suit the wheel to the i These plates titv snugly .against therim 11 of the wheel and extend outwardly a considerable distance beyond the outer ends of the walls of the U-shaped pockets, .shown clearly in Fig. 2 of the drawings. These plates prevent any material sidewise or latformed by said plates being sufciently large, however, to permit of a slight lat eral movement of the springs, the channel yeral movement of the springs.A The plates at their outer edges are rounded to form a slight bead or head flange. The object of this is to avoid any sharp edges or corners over which the coils of 'the springs might become engaged and against which they..

curved spring metal Shaper plate 22 which bears against the inner side of the tire casing and holds it yieldingly in proper shape.. Inthe tire casing are set, and permanently secured, circular metallic sockets 23 which are adapted to snugly receive the heads 21 of the. studs 20. Each of these Sockets is formed with abroad radial langel2t, 'said'.

flanges carrying outwardly Aextending prongs 25 which are adapted to enter the' fabric members of thevtire'casing. These sockets are placed around the inner -side of the casing onek socket `being. axially in line with each spring. In. making up the tire casing the inner reinforcing fabric sections or layers are perforated-to receive the sockets; said sockets are-inserted therein and the sections are then stretched over the core' upon whichthe tire casing is' to be formed. These fabric members or sections are thoroughly saturated with rubber cement 'before they, are applied to the former, and, therefore, after vulcanizing, the sockets are very strongly secured to the casing. The` prongs 233 enter` the fabric portion of the casing and secure the sockets against any `tendency to revolve. The advantage of this 18, said springs is prevented, said sockets or caps at all times evenly distributing the strain brought upon the tread of the casing.

The side walls ot' the caps 19 are connected together around the wheel hymeans of links Q6, said links and the caps forming an endless chain around the Wheel adjacent the inner surface of the casing. These links serve to hold the caps in position with respect to each other and serve to transmit any lateral strain brought on one cap and spring to the adjacent caps and springs. Each link is connected to one cap by a rivet 2T, the other end of the link being secured to the adjacent cap by means of a rivet or pin 28 which engages Within a slot 29 in the side wall of the caps so that each cap will have a limited movement independently of the adjacent connected caps.

The ring plates 17 assist in holding the elencher ribs in engagement with the cleneher rings as they form a rigid inner wall against which the inner sides of the ribs rest so that said plates serve the double purpose of holding the springs and the clencher ribs in position.

This application is a continuation of my former application, Serial No. 671,308, filed January 15, 1912,

lVhat I claim is: v i l. A vehicle wheel tire comprising4 a retainer band normally fitting the wheel rim, al series of pockets connected to said band and having outwardly extending end walls only, `a radially arranged spring in each pocket, a ring plate tting against and closing each 'side of the ockets and forming an annular channel springs, means for flexibly connecting t0- gether the outer ends of the springs, a tire easing inclosing the springs and formed with clencher ribs on its marginal edges, clencher rib gripping means carried by the vehicle wheel rim, the ring plates serving as means for locking the clencher ribs in the clencher rib gripping means.

2. A vehicle Wheel tire comprisin a casing, la spring holding means adapted to extend around a wheel telly, radially arranged springs carried by said holding me ns, a cap for the outer end of each spring and formed with inwardly extending side walls, a pair of pivoted links connecting together. the side walls of adjoining caps at each side thereof, said links being out of contact with the tire casing and forming with the connected caps an endless chain aroundothe tire, and a transversely curved resilient Shaper plate carried b each cap and adapted to bear againstl anc conform to the interior of the tire casing.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two Wit:

EGBERT B. BROVN. Witnesses 4 Fano A. YOUNG,

ioNNnn RICHARDSON.

Copiea of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner n! Patents,

Washington, D. C."

or `the pockets andV 

